Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is under the ownership of Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
The Life Insurance Corporation of India was established on 1 September 1956, when the Parliament of India passed the Life Insurance of India Act, nationalizing the insurance industry in India. Over 245 insurance companies and provident societies were merged together.[3][4]
LIC reported 290 million policyholders as of 2019, a total life fund of ₹28.3 trillion and a total value of sold policies in the year 2018–19 of ₹21.4 million. The company also reported to have settled 26 million claims in 2018–19. It ranked 98th on the 2022 Fortune Global 500 list with a revenue of ₹775,283 crore (US$97 billion) and a profit of ₹4,415 crore (US$550 million).[5]
Founding organisations
The Oriental Life Insurance Company, the first company in India offering life insurance coverage, was established in Kolkata in 1818. Its primary target market was the population of Europeans in India, and it charged Indians heftier premiums.[6]
Surendranath Tagore had founded Hindustan Insurance Society, which later became Life Insurance Corporation.[7]
The Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society, formed in 1870, was the first native insurance provider. Other insurance companies established in the pre-independence era include:
Postal Life Insurance (PLI) was introduced on 1 February 1884
Bharat Insurance Company (1896)
United India (1906)
National Indian (1906)
National Insurance (1906)
Co-operative Assurance (1906)
Hindustan Co-operatives (1907)
The New India Assurance Co Ltd (1919)
Indian Mercantile
General Assurance
Swadeshi Life (later Bombay Life)
Sahyadri Insurance (Merged into LIC, 1986)
These companies were established when India was marked mostly by turbulent economic and political conditions including the Indian rebellion of 1857, World War I and World War II. The effect of these events led to a high liquidation rate of life insurance companies in India and adversely affected the faith of the general public in the value of obtaining life insurance.